Oracle’s OpenAI data center plans face billion-dollar cost surprises

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Oracle’s AI strategy was built on a bold premise: spend aggressively, secure enormous demand from OpenAI and close the gap with the world’s biggest cloud providers.

Now, the physical realities of that strategy are starting to intrude. Power plans are changing. Local opposition is slowing projects. Costs are climbing into the billions.

Long before Oracle’s AI infrastructure costs began mounting, The Information was tracking the pressure to deliver for OpenAI, the assumptions supporting its valuation and the financial strain behind its expansion. Subscribe for $299 and save 25% on the first year.

Exclusive: Oracle Data Centers Face Multibillion-Dollar Cost Surprises

Oracle’s effort to keep a massive AI campus on track has triggered an expensive rethink of how the project will be powered—while political and regulatory resistance continues to mount.

The Magical Thinking Behind Oracle’s Valuation

Oracle’s AI cloud promises thrilled investors. Our analysis examined whether the spending, debt and deteriorating cash flow behind that story could support the optimism.

Pressure Rises on Oracle to Finish OpenAI Data Center

Long before the latest cost surprises, our reporting revealed the strain inside Oracle and among its contractors as the company raced to deliver the computing capacity OpenAI was counting on.

This is the advantage of reading The Information: by the time the risks become obvious, you already understand the decisions that created them. Subscribe now and save 25% on the first year.

For readers following the AI infrastructure boom, The Information Pro goes even deeper.

With The Information’s Talent Tracker: The Executives Leading the Data Center Race and AI Data Center Database, Pro subscribers can track the people, projects and power demands shaping the buildout. Subscribe to Pro for $749 for proprietary databases, insider reporting and analysis on the AI infrastructure boom.